The Plateau Playground by Coach Dan Vawter
During my decades of teaching and coaching swimming, I commonly hear parents say; “I think my child has regressed in their swimming,” or “My swimmer has reached some plateau in the pool.” These phrases are often followed by a parent’s reaction to question the classes, the coach or themselves. Parents have a tendency to look for an immediate resolution or explanation to their child’s situation; I challenge parents to embrace the regression and master the “developmental plateau.”
The regression or plateau of a swimmer’s development should be looked at in the grand theme of child development as a whole. What is taking place in the water is no different than what a child experiences on land as they develop mentally, physically and emotionally. As a coach, we must accept and embrace the “developmental plateau” as a normal process for our swimmers. Once we take ourselves out of the equation for a moment and look at the swimmer’s struggle as a positive; we can move forward together. Sometimes as a coach, I forget how important it is to remind and educate our parents to embrace the regression too.
Personally, I look to T. Berry Brazelton, to help understand child’s “touchpoints.” Dr. Brazelton is one of the country’s foremost pediatrician and a pioneer in early childhood development. He is clinical professor of pediatrics, emeritus at Harvard Medical School, in Boston, where he teaches and conducts research, and professor of psychiatry and human development at Brown University in Providence, R.I. In 1995, Harvard University Medical School established the T. Berry Brazelton Chair in Pediatrics. Brazelton is actively involved with the Brazelton Touchpoints Center, a preventive outreach program that trains professionals nationwide to better serve families of infants and toddlers. He also is on the faculty of the Brazelton Institute, where he continues to be involved in teaching and research with the Neonatal Behavioral Assessment Scale. Dr. Brazelton has written over 200 scientific papers and 28 books on child development and pediatrics.
In Dr. Brazelton’s words:
“When we were being trained as pediatricians, we were taught that babies develop in a straight line upward, but I realized they develop in spurts and then leveling-off periods. Just before each spurt, there is a period of regression when the child falls apart (the touchpoint) and the family falls apart. The child is irritable and won’t eat or sleep.
For example, just before children walk, they wake up at night and they scream during the day. The falling apart is a time the child is energizing himself to take the next step. These are predictable times and they are opportunities for helping parents understand the next step of development. They can see the falling apart as something positive instead of negative.” (USA Today, May 1, 2013)
Dr. Brazelton is responsible for developing the “Touchpoint Theory” in child development and founded the Brazelton Touchpoints Center in Boston. The touchpoint theory is best described by Amy Bontempo, who explains touchpoints as follows:
Touchpoints is an evidence-based theory of child development that refers to periods in a child’s life where he or she starts doing something new after an old and predictable behavior stops, i.e., a child starts to walk shortly after he or she stops sleeping through the night. This theory is based on more than sixty years of ground-breaking research by Dr. T. Berry Brazelton and his colleagues at Children’s Hospital in Boston and in communities around the world. When parents understand their child’s development and Touchpoints, they are better prepared for predictable back slides in behavior and can look forward to exciting new steps to come. (www.PenefieldBuildingBlocks.org, Amy Bontempo, June 2013)
As a coach, we must embrace and understand the touchpoints that our swimmers have in the water. With each new swimming level that your child moves through there are three stages: 1) The Climb, 2) The Plateau, and 3) The Climb Again. In every level your swimmer with deal with and work through these stages; understanding that every level deals with new issues emotionally, physically and mentally.
During the Climb, swimmers will see a quick surge in skill improvement. In the Beginning Mudskipper, for example, we often see swimmers that struggled to kick or jump independently, quickly take a hold of this new skill as they learn from other independent swimmers in their class and are challenged in the water without a parent. The Climb stage is peppered with numerous skill and developmental advancements, but will undoubtedly encounter struggle and regression. As a swimmer is challenged to confront a new skill, we will see an acting out emotionally, mentally or physically in the child. Understanding that this new “touchpoint” in the swimmer’s development is critical to their mastery of the skill, parents and coaches can work together to realize that this period is a path to success and not failure. This regression is not a reflection of the coach or the parent, but rather a reflection on the swimmer’s positive development.
One of the clearest examples of “touchpoints” in swimming is seen when our AquaChamps’ swimmers move from the Beginning Strokes for Little Folks Intermediate Level to the Advanced Level (Swim Team). In the Advanced Strokes Level swimmers are being asked to do several laps, follow longer directions, understand the fine tuning of stroke technique and do all of this while their coach is outside of the pool directing them. This transition is often seen with parents experiencing swimmers that are resistant to coming to practice. The most common thing I hear from parents is, “(Insert child’s name), doesn’t like swimming anymore and wants to quit.” Well of course they do! This is a hard transition! I encourage parents to understand that this too shall pass and to take themselves out of the equation. It is important to listen to your child’s concern, but to teach them to talk to the expert in swimming; THE COACH. Allowing your swimmer to quit because something is difficult is not the lesson we want to teach our children. Encouraging your swimmer to understand commitment, struggle and overcoming is the greatest lesson we can get out of the regression!
During the Plateau, there will be a leveling off of skill development. Think positive! This is not a leveling off, but a mastery of the new skills learned. In order to retain the new skills, every swimmer needs a period of repetition so that they secure these skills as a part of their muscle memory. The Plateau is not the fault of your swimmer or your coach, but that it is a necessary part of your child’s development! Embrace the developmental plateau as your child’s playground!
Once the swimmer has worked through the “Plateau Playground,” the Climb Again stage begins. Swimmers, coaches and parents have embraced and overcome the regression and stagnation periods of development and are ready to enter the period of accepting new challenges and new skills. The cycle of your swimmer’s development begins once again. And just like before; there will be outbursts, struggles and triumphs. Making sure that coaches, parents and swimmers understand the touchpoints in their child’s development is critical to success in and out of the water. Perhaps Dr. Brazelton puts understanding “touchpoints” best when he says; “Yet, when parents understand the disorganization of this period as a natural precursor to the rapid and exciting development that follows, they will not need to feel as if it represents failure. (The TouchpointsTM Model of Development T. Berry Brazelton, M.D., and Joshua Sparrow, M.D. Copyright 2003 T.B. Brazelton and Joshua Sparrow.)
Related posts:
Parenting: The Masterclass in Letting Go
Parenting a Successful Athlete
The Sooner You Swim…The Smarter You Will Be
Previous post:
“Every Child a Swimmer” Legislation
Next post:
